Stephenson County approves purchase of snowplow chassis and reviews surplus-property steps

Stephenson County approved the purchase of a new chassis for a snowplow (item 26-04) after staff described timing risks tied to upcoming emissions changes and long manufacturer lead times.

Speaker 2 said the chassis is for a new snowplow and that when manufacturers begin building 2027-model-year chassis “the emissions changes and the price can go up dramatically,” recommending the county secure a chassis now and get on the production list. Staff estimated upfitting would take roughly 400 days once supplied, pushing the earliest in-service date into late in the year. Speaker 2 added the current quoted price was slightly lower than the prior purchase after minor specification changes.

Discussion covered which budget lines would cover the purchase: staff said operation equipment and construction equipment lines would be used and that a recent $100,000 supplemental appropriation would cover part of the cost (speaker 1 said about $35,000 would come from the supplemental). The board discussed trade-in and disposal options; Speaker 5 reminded the group that any item to be sold must first be declared surplus: “If you are going to dispose of it, it has to be declared surplus property before you can put it on an option site.”

A motion to approve the chassis purchase was moved by Mr. Madero, seconded by Mr. Jogers, and approved by voice vote.

Next steps: staff will process purchase paperwork, declare any disposals surplus before auction or sale, and coordinate upfitting and delivery timelines with the vendor.